Not long after I started photographing vaginas for vagina vérité, it was pointed out that I've got the wrong name for the project. That it is not the vagina I am shooting, but the vulva.

Granted, by dictionary definition that is true, but for me, vagina is what I call it. Vulva hasn't made into my day-to-day vocabulary when I think of down there. Often, I am asked: what exactly is the vulva? – so it looks like many other women also go by vagina.

Language is not a static thing. It evolves along with us. Meanings that, well, lose their meaning, are demoted to 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th-level definition, logged in our dictionaries, but rarely used. Whatever the definition, words evoke different feelings, images, meanings for each of us. We use different ones in different situations, moods, when alone to ourselves, or out loud. We're here to share our personal experiences, so let's hear what works for you...

my favorite word for vagina is...

kitty, pussy, coochie, the Goddess, Mother Earth

I like 'punanny' though it sounds silly. 'Panocha' is sexy, too. and I love the sanskrit word 'yoni' -- sounds so soft and magical and romantic. Why don't I use 'yoni' more often???

'Cunt' still hits me like a slap in the face. And I challenge men all the time when they call each other 'pussies.' Excuse me -- but if you CAME from a pussy and you're always looking to FIND some pussy, why do you hurl that word around like an insult, like pussy is a bad thing?

pussy. my boyfriend calls me 'squirty' because I have MASSIVE orgasms with ejaculation!

when I was little, my mother called a vagina a...

mostly 'down there' and sometime 'vagina'

she wouldn't talk to me about sex unless I initiated the conversation. she was taught that kissing made you pregnant, so she was too embarrassed to talk openly. now that I am almost 30 and worked in adult entertainment, I talk VERY openly with her, and she appreciates it. As conservative as she is [church lady], and even when it makes her uncomfortable, she is GLAD that things are different and us women are claiming our bodies and our sexualities.

when I (or if I were to) talk to my daughter about her vagina, I (would) call it a...

'vagina' and 'special place.' I want her to know it is both.

this conversation makes me think...

it is so great to have this global conversation and document our social-sexual evolution as a species. It also makes me think about asking my boyfriend what his favorite words are for both the female AND male repro organs... Also makes me think about how there are so many euphemisms for the vagina/vulva, but the major source of pleasure, the clitoris, has almost none at all ['clit' is just an abbreviaton].

Imagine calling the penis a 'pen' or the testicles the 'tests' and the vagina a 'vag'!

The pills gonna leave a side effect that'll take another pill to correct. - Prince, Fascination

Reply #1 posted 11/07/04 9:19am

Mach

is the pussy van from the burning man festival ?

i make Sacred Yoni soaps but am feared to post a pic of um cuz ya know .. we're not supposed to post "sex" type pics

Reply #2 posted 11/07/04 9:24am

zannaleee

Mach said:

is the pussy van from the burning man festival ?

i make Sacred Yoni soaps but am feared to post a pic of um cuz ya know .. we're not supposed to post "sex" type pics

Cunt I the word cunt and like most people I am not afraid to say it or repulsed by it. CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT

Reply #22 posted 11/07/04 6:03pm

PEJ

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Cunt I the word cunt and like most people I am not afraid to say it or repulsed by it. CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT

Would you die for your cunt tree?

To Sir, with Love

Reply #23 posted 11/07/04 6:06pm

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld

PEJ said:

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Cunt I the word cunt and like most people I am not afraid to say it or repulsed by it. CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT

Would you die for your cunt tree?

Cunt

Reply #24 posted 11/07/04 6:10pm

PEJ

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

PEJ said:

Would you die for your cunt tree?

Cunt

I am what I eat!

To Sir, with Love

Reply #25 posted 11/07/04 6:13pm

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld

PEJ said:

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld said:

Cunt

I am what I eat!

pussy?

Reply #26 posted 11/07/04 6:24pm

Muse2NOPharaoh

Personally this subject just doesn't do it for me....

I would make one sorry Lesbian.....

I would be all wait , wait, wait...

You want me to stick my face in that?

Are you fuckin serious?

Hasta pasta..

Reply #27 posted 11/07/04 6:40pm

althom

zannaleee said:

Not long after I started photographing vaginas for vagina vérité

Now why can't i get jobs like that?

.[Edited 11/7/04 18:40pm]

Reply #28 posted 11/07/04 7:05pm

MostBeautifulGrlNTheWorld

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Personally this subject just doesn't do it for me....

I would make one sorry Lesbian.....

I would be all wait , wait, wait...

You want me to stick my face in that?

Are you fuckin serious?

Hasta pasta..

Reply #29 posted 11/07/04 7:41pm

bkw

althom said:

zannaleee said:

Not long after I started photographing vaginas for vagina vérité

Now why can't i get jobs like that?

.
[Edited 11/7/04 18:40pm]

Juat point the camera around the other way. Job done!

When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.

Reply #30 posted 11/07/04 7:41pm

althom

bkw said:

althom said:

Now why can't i get jobs like that?

.
[Edited 11/7/04 18:40pm]

Juat point the camera around the other way. Job done!

Reply #31 posted 11/07/04 9:22pm

PEJ

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Personally this subject just doesn't do it for me....

I would make one sorry Lesbian.....

I would be all wait , wait, wait...

You want me to stick my face in that?

Are you fuckin serious?

Hasta pasta..

So true! !!!

To Sir, with Love

Reply #32 posted 11/07/04 9:24pm

zannaleee

PEJ said:

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

Personally this subject just doesn't do it for me....

I would make one sorry Lesbian.....

I would be all wait , wait, wait...

You want me to stick my face in that?

Are you fuckin serious?

Hasta pasta..

So true! !!!

co-sign

The pills gonna leave a side effect that'll take another pill to correct. - Prince, Fascination

Reply #33 posted 11/08/04 11:31am

MikeHunt

thread!

"I would like to apologize for referring to George W. Bush as a deserter. What I meant to say is that George W. Bush is a deserter, an election thief, a drunk driver, a WMD liar, and a functional illiterate. And he poops his pants" - Michael Moore 2004

Reply #34 posted 11/08/04 1:26pm

Fleshofmyflesh

All I know is I don't want anyone's anywhere near me.

Reply #35 posted 11/08/04 2:15pm

MikeHunt

Fleshofmyflesh said:

All I know is I don't want anyone's anywhere near me.

"I would like to apologize for referring to George W. Bush as a deserter. What I meant to say is that George W. Bush is a deserter, an election thief, a drunk driver, a WMD liar, and a functional illiterate. And he poops his pants" - Michael Moore 2004

Reply #36 posted 11/08/04 2:21pm

Ace

"We like to call it our 'puss'" - Nicole to the nudists, on The Simple Life.

"Only his writing was calm. His writing which - in more ways than one - had saved his life."

but sir joey coco you left a very imprortant one out! Roastbeef curtains

"I would like to apologize for referring to George W. Bush as a deserter. What I meant to say is that George W. Bush is a deserter, an election thief, a drunk driver, a WMD liar, and a functional illiterate. And he poops his pants" - Michael Moore 2004